Towards a million signatures against the assault of a police officer

21 Nov 2017

By: PBM

ProBonoMatters is setting out to collect a million signatures in a petition against the brazen assault of a policeman on the 12th of November 2017 in an incident that occurred on the streets of Hillbrow in Johannesburg.

ProBonoMatters, an open online network dedicated to promote universal access to the justice system, is hosting the online petition on its platform ProBonoMatters.co.za.

The petition seeks to condemn the assault of the Johannesburg Metro Police Department (JMPD) officer by some members of The Revelation Church of God. They were captured in a video assaulting and disarming the JMPD officer who was then hospitalised.

The video has gone viral and has been widely condemned. ProBonoMatters is of the view that much more condemnation is required given the gravity of the crime committed by the implicated people.

ProBonoMatters believes that all people, in South Africa and beyond, who subscribe to the concept of modern day liberty should condemn the dispeakable behaviour by the members of The Revelation Church of God who assaulted the JMPD officer.

The organisation is galvanising key stakeholders to join it in this critical gesture by endorsing the petition. Entities like the City of Johannesburg. JMPD itself and other metro police departments, the South African Police Service and relevant trade unions endorse the petition.

Nothing less than a million signatures will send out a message that the concerned dispeakable behaviour has no place in a modern democracy.

The petition declares that:

“On Sunday the 12th of November 2017 some members of The Revelation Church of God were captured on video assaulting a Johannesburg Metro Police Department (JMPD) officer. They took the officer’s firearm and left him unconscious. He had to be hospitalised.
The scenes, from Hillbrow, Johannesburg, which went viral on social media are ugly and should not be tolerated. It goes without any reasonable shade of doubt that the behaviour of the congregants who participated in the assault is unacceptable and must be condemned in the strongest possible terms. The law must take its course.
The larger responsibility to stamp out this kind of behaviour rests with us, the people, the general public. The assault of that police officer mixed with indications that we the people are tolerating of this act, undermines public safety and security.

With this petition we stand up to condemn the behaviour of the implicated members of The Revelation Church of God.”

Signing the petition is easy and takes about three minutes. All is required from the signatory is name, surname, email address and clicking the Sign Non icon.